Plastic waste is damaging to our environment as it reduces the capacity of ecosystems to adapt to climate change and puts a strain on food supply.
A key pillar of our ESG strategy is protecting the environments where we operate and managing plastic pollution on our sites and in our communities is a critical part of this pillar.
Our approach
Our 2023 to 2025 towards zero plastic strategy first aims to make our staff aware of the use of plastic products and the impact of plastic waste.
Secondly, we aim to work with all our suppliers to reduce the production of plastic waste across our supply chain.
The third objective will be to encourage the development of projects that recover and add value to the remaining plastic waste.
Zero plastic bottles
As part of our ‘towards zero plastic’ strategy, we aim to have zero single-use plastic water bottles across all our operations by 2025.
Our target for 2023 was to reduce our single-use plastic water bottle consumption by 50%. Although we introduced reusable bottles across our sites, and our Abidjan and Dakar offices and the Sabodala-Massawa mine successfully eliminated single-use plastic water bottles, we only achieved a 29% reduction across the Group. We are redoubling our efforts in 2024 and have set ourselves a 70% reduction, which also forms part of the Group’s annual bonus for the year.
70%
reduction in single-use plastic
2024 target
29%
reduction in single-use plastic
2023
Community clear ups
Throughout the year, we organise site and community clean-ups to engage employees and local stakeholders in the fight against plastic. These clean ups have taken place in the major cities near our offices and one at the beach in Senegal where we collected around 150 kg of plastic waste.
ESG week clear up at Houndé
Clear up with local community at Houndé
Beach clear up in Senegal
Sustainability Report 2023
Read about our ESG strategy and the significant sustainability milestones reached in 2023.
